A walking tour of old Odessa town, Ukraine

On a brief stopover in Odessa, one of the best ways to get a feel for the city is to do a walking tour of the old town. As our ship was moored at the sea passenger terminal, this was easy enough to do.

Duke de Richelieu monument

The sea passenger terminal is within close proximity to the Potemkin Steps and there’s a cable car that takes you to the top of the Potemkin Steps if you don’t feel inclined to make the climb. Once you reach the top, you’re on Primorsky Boulevard where the Duke de Richelieu, standing on his pedestal with right hand outstretched, appears to be welcoming the world to Odessa. The Duke played a key role in making Odessa a duty free port and in his left hand is a scroll with a manifesto about the duty free port zones. The two yellow semi-circular buildings at Primorsky Square were built in the 1830s to Russian classic styles and are the oldest surviving buildings on the Boulevard. Within one of the buildings is ‘The Boulevard’ an upmarket restaurant that promises to transport diners to the glory days and experience the spirit of old Odessa.

Pushkin monument

Facing away from the port, if you walk to the left, you’ll soon come upon Londonskaya Hotel. At the end of Primorsky Boulevard is Deriskaya Square where the monument to A.S. Pushkin stands with the City Hall in the background. There’s massive renovation works going on and barricades around the place so we did our best to get these snaps.

From Pushkin’s monument, if you walk to the top of Chaikovskogo Lane and then take a right turn, you’ll end up at Ekaterininskaya Square or Catherine Square. A towering statue of Catherine the Great stands in this square where once stood the monument to the Potemkin sailors.